Recap of Mid-Late Round Picks from 2003
 

Since we have been trading away so many of our draft picks, I thought I might look back on last year's draft to see who was drafted in rounds 3-7. Some of those drafted in rounds 3-7 were:

3rd rounder
WR Kelly Washington – Looks to be a solid, speedy #2 wideout in Cincy
TE Jason Witten – Will be a fantastic TE by his 2nd or 3rd season in Dallas
RB Musa Smith – Looks like a decent backup to Jamal Lewis
G Derrick Dockery – Could be a dominating lineman here in D.C.
CB Ricky Manning Jr. – Had a fantastic rookie season
RB Justin Fargas – Looked impressive in spot duty last season in Oakland
QB Chris Simms – Isn’t his father, but should be a good QB nonetheless

4th rounder
RB Quentin Griffin – Looked good when Portis went down last season
RB Lee Suggs – Looked very good in Green’s absence in Cleveland
DT Dan Klecko – I think all I need to say is wow.
CB Asante Samuel – Had a very good rookie season in New England
RB Dominic Davis – Became the tailback Houston needed so bad
RB Onterrio Smith – Played some good back-up duty in Minnesota
WR Brandon Lloyd – Made some monster circus catches in San Fran
CB Dennis Weathersby – Was a 1st or 2nd rounder before being shot

5th round
C Dan Koppen – Played awesome for the Pats at center.

6th round
Drew Henson – Don’t know what this will yield, but perhaps a 3rd rounder this draft?

Those are just the names most football fans now know. More good players are bound to emerge from last year's class.

Wow, I didn't know Ricky Manning Jr. was a rookie. He played a few awesome games for a rookie.

So there IS talent in later rounds!

Heck I think Stephen Davis was a 4th round pick

There def. is talent. You just have to be able to find it. So far Cerratto has been terrible with late picks. He shouldn't get credit for his early picks bc anybody can make those. GM's make there money in the later rounds.

I don't think Cerrato has done any worse than Casserly in picking in the later rounds of the draft (Davis of course, is the notable exception). As far as the early rounds are concerned, I don't think anyone can pick winners in those rounds (See Desmond Howard, Andre Carter, Heath Shuler vs. Patrick Ramsey, Chris Samuels, LaVar Arrington).

I was being sarcastic. Talent in the draft as a whole is hit and miss. Hard to see what a guy will do once he gets to the pros. Different guys react differently.

[QUOTE=Ramseyfan]I don't think Cerrato has done any worse than Casserly in picking in the later rounds of the draft (Davis of course, is the notable exception). As far as the early rounds are concerned, I don't think anyone can pick winners in those rounds (See Desmond Howard, Andre Carter, Heath Shuler vs. Patrick Ramsey, Chris Samuels, LaVar Arrington).[/QUOTE]

Actually Casserly drafted Champ Bailey and Jon Jansen right before he was fired. He also set up THE trade with New Orleans that swapped 1st rd. picks (New Orleans drafted Ricky William-Redskins drafted Champ Bailey) and we got the rest of New Orleans picks in that draft plus the next years 1st round pick, that ended up being Lavar Arrington.
Earlier in his career Casserly was also credited for finding undrafted Free agent T Joe Jacoby and C Jeff Bostic. But you might be too young to know them.

This team simply has to stop trading away draft picks. Signing all these FAs is going to kill our salary cap.

[QUOTE=Defensewins]Actually Casserly drafted Champ Bailey and Jon Jansen right before he was fired. He also set up THE trade with New Orleans that swapped 1st rd. picks (New Orleans drafted Ricky William-Redskins drafted Champ Bailey) and we got the rest of New Orleans picks in that draft plus the next years 1st round pick, that ended up being Lavar Arrington.
Earlier in his career Casserly was also credited for finding undrafted Free agent T Joe Jacoby and C Jeff Bostic. But you might be too young to know them.[/QUOTE]

I am very familiar with Bostic and Jacoby. I am also aware that Casserly picked Jansen & Bailey.

However, if you look at the 'Skins draft success over the past 15 years, our recent drafts don't look so bad. My point was not to say that Casserly did so horribly, but rather that Cerrato hasn't done that bad.

I think the real problem is Snyder, not Cerrato. Dan's heart is in the right place but he doesn't have much football common sense. Cerrato is good at finding the right players at the top of the draft but I'm not as impressed with his track record with later round picks. Of course, Snyder keeps pissing these picks away every offseason so what is Vinny supposed to do?

Well, I don't think we should give up a whole lot of picks, but I think last year's jetskins were a great idea. Spend draft picks which are risky anyways on established young players. As long as we keep the cap under control, I'm fine with it. We need to use the draft some of course, but building through FA is definitly possible, especially with an aggressive talented staff and owner. Dan gets what he wants, and he has my thanks for trying to turn this team back into the amazing gem it once was!

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS.

Last year's FA moves were pretty good, but I just have a problem with trading picks two years in a row. I thought last year was pretty much a one time deal. I don't think we can afford to build a franchise without getting a base of home-grown cheap players we drafted.

Let's re-examine Ramseyfan's original list.
3rd rounder
WR Kelly Washington – Looks to be a solid, speedy #2 wideout in Cincy
TE Jason Witten – Will be a fantastic TE by his 2nd or 3rd season in Dallas
RB Musa Smith – Looks like a decent backup to Jamal Lewis
G Derrick Dockery – Could be a dominating lineman here in D.C.
CB Ricky Manning Jr. – Had a fantastic rookie season
RB Justin Fargas – Looked impressive in spot duty last season in Oakland
QB Chris Simms – Isn’t his father, but should be a good QB nonetheless

4th rounder
RB Quentin Griffin – Looked good when Portis went down last season
RB Lee Suggs – Looked very good in Green’s absence in Cleveland
DT Dan Klecko – I think all I need to say is wow.
CB Asante Samuel – Had a very good rookie season in New England
RB Dominic Davis – Became the tailback Houston needed so bad
RB Onterrio Smith – Played some good back-up duty in Minnesota
WR Brandon Lloyd – Made some monster circus catches in San Fran
CB Dennis Weathersby – Was a 1st or 2nd rounder before being shot

5th round
C Dan Koppen – Played awesome for the Pats at center.

6th round
Drew Henson – Don’t know what this will yield, but perhaps a 3rd rounder this draft?

I saw two full-time starters on that list, and one of them was a Redskin. I'd also argue that Ricky Manning Jr. didn't have a great year - he had a FANTASTIC playoffs, but was a nickel back who cracked the starting lineup not because of his skill, but the #2 CB's ineptitude. I don't disagree that we need to draft players that can fill our roster, but I don't think we need to exaggerate the performance of any recent draftees to make the point.

I stand by my list. Did I mean to say that those guys were like Champ Bailey, Randy Moss, Jon Jansen, etc.? No, not by any means. What I meant to note was that ALL of those guys were very good picks and great values deep into the draft. The point being - mid-to-late picks are really worth something. They give you depth at a bargain price (or washouts at a cheap price).

I've said it many times before, but I think coaching has a lot to do with mid to late round picks fulfilling and increasing their potential. That is what we have lacked for the past few years, but that is no longer a problem.